The Navigation Log 2.24.08: Navigation Log’s King of Trios Special Report

Onto the Navigation Log!

Nakamura Beats Angle
NOAH was on the light side in terms of happenings this past week, so by far the biggest news to come out of New Japan. Last month TNA World Champion Kurt Angle defended his 3rd Generation IWGP Heavyweight title against Yuji Nagata. On the same show Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Hiroshi Tanahasi to win the IWGP Heavyweight title (the NJPW recognized one). It was thus determined that Angle would face Nakamura to unify the belts, finally ending the seemingly endless drama that has surrounded the IWGP title since Brock Lesnar walked away with it in 2006.

That unification match took place last weekend. I had the chance to catch it over the week and I have to say it was a pretty decent match. The Angle vs. Nagata match was a lot more interesting to watch, but Angle and Nakamura put on a good show. The crowd was hot for it, though some of the atmosphere from Angle/Nagata was lost. In the case of the Nagata match the Japanese fans wanted Mr. IWGP to win the title, but the match really could have gone either way. In the Nakamura match, there was absolutely no chance that New Japan was going to allow the titles to be unified under Kurt Angle and the belt he had won from Lesnar. Everyone in that arena knew Nakamura was going to win the belt. In the end it just felt like they were going through the motions of the match to me. The crowd ate it all up though and exploded when Angle tapped like a bitch to Nakamura.

All in all New Japan put on a good show. I think it would be safe to assume this will end up on another TNA Global Impact special. Jeremy Borash did English ring announcing prior to the match which indicates that it will likely be broadcast on Spike. I hope that when it does we get more than just the clip show that we were treated to last time, but it’s not very likely. TNA stars didn’t fare quite as well on this show as they did on the first Global Impact. Along with Angle’s loss Tomko and Giant Bernard dropped their IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team titles to Togi Makabe and Toru Yano.

Thus far the relationship between TNA and New Japan has really paid dividends. New Japan has been putting on some tremendous shows thanks to the use of TNA talent while on the other end Impact has gotten a little boost thanks to Japanese stars arriving, namely Tiger Mask. They can fall prey to the horrible booking that has plagued Impact lately, but it hasn’t stopped the visiting stars from putting on great performances. With the World X Cup making its return I’m quite looking forward to more from the New Japan stars.

Navigation Log At Home Special: CHIKARA King of Trios 2008 Preview
In 2007 the CHIKARA promotion debuted their King of Trios tournament. The year was a great success for them and has garnered the rapidly growing promotion even more attention. Well, they’re looking to outdo themselves this year by bringing together the largest field of stars ever assembled for a tournament. I feel that it’s worthwhile to discuss this in the Navigation Log because of the sheer extent of this tournament. There are teams from all over the world taking part. Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom and Japan will all be represented. So consider this your guide to this massive tournament.

Night One: 2/29/08 First Round Matches

The Colony vs. Team El Dorado (Go, Michael Nakazawa, & Mototsugu Shimizu)
Fire Ant, Soldier Ant, and Worker Ant had a great end of 2007, scoring wins against their biggest rivals The Olsen Twins & Brodie Lee as well as the BLKOUT stable. The Colony is in a strong position heading into this first round match, but they may fall prey to the foreigners in this match. Tournament booking will often dictate that visiting teams go over home talent. I don’t think that will be the case here though. First, The Colony are insanely popular with the CHIKARA fanbase. Two, the Japanese have one huge liability: Michael Nakazawa. Nakazawa has gone on a tremendous slide since the middle of 2007 when his Nuru Nuru Brothers tag team was at its strongest in the DDT promotion. Lately however, Nakazawa has lost his “smoothness.” Since then he was fired from the DDT promotion (after losing a career match in seconds. Over and over again). He’s the weak link in Team El Dorado and if The Colony can exploit it they can get to the next round.

My Pick: The Colony

Las Chivas vs. Team ROH Graduates (Shane Hagadorn, Alex Payne, & Rhitt Titus)
Chivas 2 & 3 debuted last year during the International Invaders weekend and then appeared again for the annual Cibernetico. This time they’re bringing Chiva #4 for King of Trios. They’ve got a tall order against a team of ROH graduates in Hagadorn, Payne, & Titus. Maybe not that tall of an order though. ROH student teams have typically been the whipping boys in CHIKARA tournaments. Most notably was in the Tag World Grad Prix when the students took a memorable beating from Necro Butcher and Joker (disguised as CP Munk and Colt Cabunny). I’ll expect that to continue as the ROH Students job to the foreigners.

My Pick: Las Chivas

Dr. Keith Presents (The Olsen Twins & Brodie Lee) vs. Team WTF (Cheech, Cloudy, & m.c.KZ)
This is the toughest match from night one to predict for me. The Olsens & Lee have been hot and are insanely popular. Up In Smoke (Cheech & Cloudy) are always on a hot streak and they’re bringing in Dragon Gate NEX’s top student m.c.KZ to team with them. This could steal the opening round of Night 1. The Olsens and Up In Smoke have had great matches with each other in 2007. It’s going to continue here. Whether WTF will be able to overcome the size of Brodie Lee is another question, but this will be one you’ll want to see.

My Pick: Team WTF

Sea Amigos (Call-Me-Kevin, DW Cycloptopuss III, & Unibouzo) vs. The Order of the Neo Solar Temple (UltraMantis Black, Hydra, & Crossbones)
The Order has been mixing it up quite a bit with representatives from Kaiju lately. Last month Mantis used his powers to manipulate the Zombie Plantain (what?) and helped Hydra actually win a match. I’m not well versed in Kaiju Big Battel, but I do think that The Order has their number here. They might not get too far past this first round, but there’s a lot of speculation that we could see a confrontation between UltraMantis Black and Kaiju’s number one baddie Dr. Cube for Night 3.

My Pick: The Order of the Neo Solar Temple

Naptown Dragons (Drake Younger, Scotty Vortekz, & Dustin Lee) vs. Team IPW: UK (Martin Stone, Sha Samuels, & Terry Frazier)
Another interesting match. The Dragons are familiar with the ECW Arena crowd. The British however are not and I believe this will be the first visit to the States for Samuels and Frazier, collectively known as The Kartel. That could play against them if they don’t bring their best. I’m not overly familiar with all the participants in this match but from the little that I’ve seen from them they all look fun. There might be a bit of a styles clash, but hopefully they’ll be able to overcome it. The Kartel like to jaw with the crowd so that should help get some extra heat onto them.

My Pick: Team IPW: UK

Team Egypt (Ophidian, Amasis, & Mecha Mummy) vs. Team Wrestle Factory (Mike Quackenbush, Shane Storm, & Skayde)
This is an easy pick but should be pretty epic. The Osirian Portal has been impressive since their debut and teaming them with a well known Japanese gimmick like Mecha Mummy is a stroke of genius. But the team of two of CHIKARA’s trainers and Shane Storm will be hard to beat. This is going to be a lot of fun, if not terribly competitive. And Skayde’s presence makes it all the sweeter.

My Pick: Team Wrestle Factory

First Round Byes
Los Championes de CHIKARA (Hallowicked, Delirious, & Helios)
BLKOUT (Eddie Kingston, Rukus, & Joker)

Night 2: 3/1/08 First Round Matches

Team IWS (El Generico, Player Uno, & Stupified) vs. Team F1RST( Arik Cannon, Darin Corbin, & Ryan Cruz)
This is another first round match that has fans torn about. Team IWS has El Generico, but Team F1RST is equally as awesome. Arik Cannon has had a lot of success in CHIKARA tournaments in the past while Corbin and Cruz of the North Star Express have just as impressive. Generico and The Super Smash Bros. are no slouches either, but I’ll give the edge of Team F1RST here.

My Pick: Team F1RST

Team Stranglehold (Tim Donst, Drew Gulak, & Andy Sumner) vs. The Magnificent Three (Larry Sweeney, Mitch Ryder, & Shane Hawke)
This is a tough call, but I’ll go with Team Stranglehold. Donst, Gulak, and Sumner all trained together in the CHIKARA Wrestle Factory and teamed together in the past as well. Meanwhile, the ring might explode from the charisma of Sweeney and Ryder. Hawke is alright too I guess. Donst is on a major roll right now and there’s no reason to derail that in a first round loss. It also helps set up the events for the next match.

My Pick: Team Stranglehold

Sweet n’ Sour Inc. (Tank Toland, Sarah Del Rey, & Bobby Dempsey vs. F.I.S.T (Icarus, Gran Akuma, & Chuck Taylor)
Imagine Dempsey winning where Sweeny fails. I just feel that’s what’s going to happen in this first round match. Then in the next round Sweeney will disrupt the match out of spite brilliant. It does make sense in this case as F.I.S.T has been on quite a slide since losing the tag titles and Chuck Taylor has become quite unhinged since losing to Helios.

My Pick: Sweet n’ Sour Inc

The Southern Saints (Shaun Reed, Marcus O’Neil, & Reno Diamond) vs. Team Japan (MIYAWAKI, KUDO, & SUSUMU)
I don’t know a blessed thing about The Southern Saints. Meanwhile two out of three members of Team Japan were in the finals last year. This is going to be a squash, plain and simple.

My Pick: Team Japan

Los Luchadores (El Pantera, Lince Dorado, & Incognito) vs. Los Ice Creams & Mystery Partner
I’m going to guess that the mystery partner ends up being Vin Gerard. Why? The Ice Creams are heels and have no problem bringing in a lying gringo to get an edge. This allows Gerard to attempt revenge against three of his chief rivals at once or screw over Los Ice Creams too (they were on the same team at Cibernetico). Somehow though, Los Luchadores will find a way to persevere. Setting a Mexico vs. Japan match later.

My Pick: Los Luchadores

Soul Touchaz (Acid Jaz, Marshe Rockett, & Willie “Da Bomb” Richardson) vs. Team Blood, Sweat, & Ears (Kobra Kai, Super Xtremo, & La Sombra Canadienese)
This will be an interesting match. The Soul Touchaz are another unknown entity to me, but so are most of Team BS&E. This will be a good chance for both teams to show their stuff. I’m picking BS&E though. Why? Kobra Kai. Karate Kid references for the fucking win.

My Pick: Team Blood, Sweat, & Ears

First Round Byes
Team WWF (Ax, Smash, and One Man Gang)
Team AZW (AkuA, & The Immortals of Waipahu)